P.E.I. women in politics all-time high

The PEI Coalition for Women in Government says the number of women candidates nominated by the Conservative and Liberal parties has reached an all-time high for the Island.

P.E.I. Progressive Conservative Leader Olive Crane is one of seven nominated women in her party. (CBC)

This was the first week of the provincial election campaign.

Kirstin Lund, coalition co-ordinator, said P.E.I.'s Conservative party has nominated seven women and the Liberal party has nominated six, for a combined total of 13 people, or 24.1 per cent of all candidates.

Lund said that's an increase from a combined total of 18.5 per cent in the 2007 provincial election.

"I think that they have been working hard to identify women candidates and I think it has shown in the numbers," she said.

The Coalition plans to continue to look for ways to help parties reach a goal of at least 33.3 per cent of women candidates by 2015, Lund added.

The other parties haven't completed all their nominations yet, but the majority of Green Party candidates nominated so far are women.